Archive for the 'Solange' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

Opening weekend at Coachella 2014 was a star-studded turning point for the renowned festival, one that seemed to set this sun-baked paradise on a new path. Yet the encore replay disspelled that notion by retaining all that has been great about this endurance test for 15 years.

The first weekend played out like a private Hollywood party crashed and trashed by petulant teenagers. But this past go-’round felt like the real thing again: exciting and exhausting, blissful and beautiful, and all about the music, not the scene.

Here are 10 other reasons why the second bash was much better than the first:

Thomas Mars of Phoenix on the main stage Saturday night. Photo: David Hall, for the Register

What a turnaround, virtually an about-face after such an unspectacular opening day.

Usually this April oasis comes shimmering into view on Friday, reaches an energetic peak on Saturday, then crawls to a finish on Sunday, the audience too physically exhausted and mentally shredded to muster much enthusiasm until the headliners appear.

Not so this year, where excessively long lines and an afternoon of nothing special provided lackluster setup for a so-so night – all of which was easily trumped by a very strong (if still not fully great) Day 2 that at times seemed to unify this gathering of roughly 90,000 people.

• Steven Wilson: On Feb. 25, the frontman for British art-rockers Porcupine Tree issues his third solo disc, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories), soon after launching a stateside trek that winds down with a May 10 gig at Club Nokia, $19.50-$35, on sale Friday at 10 a.m. And while we're talking prog-rock ...

• Yes: As we noted before Christmas, when the prog-rock pioneers appear March 6 at the Orpheum Theatre, they will perform three classics (well, two and a sleeper) in their entirety: The Yes Album (essential), Close to the Edge (epic) and Going for the One (unpretentious). Tickets, $35-$125, are on sale Friday at 10 a.m.